Liquid crystal display device having a transparent conductive film formed on an insulating film

ABSTRACT

A display device comprises a substrate; a gate line formed over the substrate; a first insulating film formed over the substrate and the gate line; a semiconductor film formed over the first insulating film; a drain electrode formed over the semiconductor film; a source electrode formed over the semiconductor film; a data line connected to the drain electrode and formed over the first insulating film; a second insulating film formed over the source electrode and the data line; a pixel electrode electrically connected to the source electrode and formed over the second insulating film; and a transparent conductive film connected to the data line through a contact hole formed in the second insulating film, the transparent conductive film being adapted to be electrically connected to an external drive circuit, wherein the transparent conductive film has a portion a lower surface of which is nearer to a surface of the substrate than is a lower surface of the transparent conductive film in the contact hole.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/118,081,filed Apr. 9, 2002, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.09/717,265, filing date Nov. 22, 2000, (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,389),which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/342,174, filed onJun. 29, 1999, (now abandoned), which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 09/207,742, filed Dec. 8, 1998, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,323),which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/683,408, filed Jul.19, 1996, (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,781), the entire disclosures of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an active matrix addressing type liquidcrystal display device using thin film transistors (TFTs) and a methodof manufacturing the same.

An active matrix addressing type liquid crystal display device includesswitching elements each being provided correspondingly to one of aplurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix. The active matrixaddressing type display has a feature that liquid crystal at each pixelis theoretically driven at all times and accordingly it is higher incontrast than a simple matrix type adopting time-multiplexed driving.Such an active matrix addressing type display has become essential,particularly for color display.

A TFT arrangement used for a conventional active matrix addressing typeliquid crystal display device includes a scanning signal line (gateline) formed on a transparent insulating substrate; a gate insulatorformed on the scanning signal line; a semiconductor layer formed on thegate insulator; and a drain electrode (data line) and a source electrodeformed on the semiconductor film, wherein the source electrode isconnected to a transparent pixel electrode and the drain electrode (dataline) is supplied with a video signal voltage. A TFT structure of a typein which a gate electrode is formed directly on a substrate is generallycalled an inverted staggered structure. Such a TFT is known fromJapanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 61-161764.

The liquid crystal display device using TFTs enables active addressingand thereby it exhibits high contrast; however, it is complicated information of TFTs on a substrate and also requires six or morephotolithography steps. This is disadvantageous in terms of increasingmanufacturing cost of a TFT substrate and decreasing processing yieldwith the increased number of manufacturing steps due to dust or dirt.

A method for simplifying manufacturing steps has been proposed, whereina gate insulator, a semiconductor layer, and a metal film (for drain andsource electrodes) are formed; the semiconductor layer is processedusing the metal film as a mask; and a transparent electrode is formed.This prior art, however, is disadvantageous in that in the case wherethe metal film forming the source electrode is smaller in etching ratethan the semiconductor film, the source electrode overhangs andincreases open line defect probabilities for the transparent electrodedue to the presence of a step at the overhang. In other words, in theabove prior art the manufacturing yield has never been consideredsufficiently.

It is required to increase the size of an area of a transmitting portion(hereinafter, referred to as an aperture ratio) of a transparent pixelelectrode for realizing a bright display screen. The above-describedprior art, however, failed to improve the aperture ratio for obtaining adisplay of high contrast and low cross talk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an active matrixaddressing type liquid crystal display device capable of obtaining adisplay screen of high contrast and low cross talk.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of makingan active matrix addressing type liquid crystal display device, which iscapable of reducing the number of manufacturing steps and increasing amanufacturing yield.

To achieve the above objects, according to one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display deviceincluding a plurality of scanning signal lines extending in a directionon a substrate; a first insulating film covering the plurality ofscanning signal lines; a plurality of data lines extending on the firstinsulating film in such a manner as to intersect the plurality ofscanning signal lines; a plurality of transparent pixel electrodesdisposed at intersections of the plurality of scanning signal lines andthe plurality of data lines; a plurality of thin film transistors eachassociated with one of the plurality of pixel electrodes, an outputelectrode thereof being connected to one of the plurality of pixelelectrodes, a control electrode thereof being connected to one of theplurality of scanning signal lines, and an input electrode thereof beingconnected to one of the plurality of data lines; and a second insulatingfilm disposed between the plurality of pixel electrodes and theplurality of thin film transistors; wherein a semiconductor layer isinterposed between the first insulating film and a portion of theplurality of data lines, and wherein edges of the semiconductor layerare set back inwardly from edges of the plurality of data lines.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a method of making a liquid crystal display device,the liquid crystal display device including a plurality of scanningsignal lines extending in a direction on a substrate; a first insulatingfilm covering the plurality of scanning signal lines; a plurality ofdata lines extending on the first insulating film in such a manner as tointersect the plurality of scanning signal lines; a plurality oftransparent pixel electrodes disposed at intersections of the pluralityof scanning signal lines and the plurality of data lines; a plurality ofthin film transistors each associated with one of the plurality of pixelelectrodes, an output electrode thereof being connected to one of theplurality of pixel electrodes, a control electrode thereof beingconnected to one of the plurality of scanning signal lines, and an inputelectrode thereof being connected to one of the plurality of data lines;and a second insulating film disposed between the plurality of pixelelectrodes and the plurality of thin film transistors; wherein asemiconductor layer is interposed between the first insulating film anda portion of the plurality of data lines; the method comprising thesteps of: etching a transistor semiconductor layer underlying the outputelectrode in the plurality of thin film transistors using a photoresistmask formed on the transistor semiconductor layer such that an etchedend of the transistor semiconductor layer on a side of the outputelectrode extends beyond an end of the output electrode; and etching anend of the semiconductor layer underlying the plurality of data linesusing a metal film making up the plurality of data lines as a mask.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which form an integral part of the specification andare to be read in conjunction therewith, and in which like referencenumerals designate similar components throughout the figures, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a pattern of each layer of one pixel andits neighborhood on a TFT substrate according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line II—II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III—III of FIG. 1 showing athin film transistor and a portion in the vicinity of a pixel electrodeon a thin film transistor substrate in the embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a connection portion of a gate terminalGTM and a gate line GL according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a connection portion of a gateterminal GTM and a gate line GL according to the embodiment shown inFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a connection portion of a drain terminalDTM and a data line DL according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a connection portion of a dataterminal DTM and a data line DL according to the embodiment shown inFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the configuration of a peripheralportion of a matrix of a display panel according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a method of making a TFT substrate TFTSUBof a liquid crystal display device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicecorresponding to a step A in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicecorresponding to a step B in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicecorresponding to a step C in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicecorresponding to a step D in FIG. 9;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicecorresponding to a step E in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicecorresponding to a step F in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a liquid crystal display device and a method of making thesame according to the present invention will be described by way ofpreferred embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional structure of a matrix portion (display portion)in an active matrix addressing type liquid crystal display deviceaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A displaypanel includes a TFT substrate TFTSUB composed of a transparent glasssubstrate SUB1 having one surface on which thin film transistors, pixelelectrodes ITO1 and various interconnections are formed; a countersubstrate OPSUB composed of a transparent glass substrate SUB2 havingone surface on which a common electrode ITO2 and color filters FIL areformed; and a liquid crystal layer LC filled in a gap between theopposed substrates TFTSUB and OPSUB.

When a video signal voltage is applied between the pixel electrodes ITO1and the common electrode ITO2 to control an electro-optical state of theliquid crystal layer LC between both the electrodes, a lighttransmissive state of such a pixel portion of the display panel ischanged to display a desired image.

A back light source is provided outside the counter substrate OPSUB orthe TFT substrate TFTSUB of the liquid crystal panel for permitting alight passing through a pixel portion of the liquid crystal panel to beobserved from the side opposite the back light source.

It is to be noted that parts having the same functions are designated bythe same characters in the figures described in the following.

(TFT Substrate)

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a pattern of each layer constituting the TFTsubstrate TFTSUB, showing one pixel and its neighborhood; FIG. 2 is asectional view of the display panel, taken on line II—II of FIG. 1; andFIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III—III of FIG. 1.

Next, the structure of the TFT substrate TFTSUB will be fully describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. A plurality of parallel gate lines(scanning signal lines or horizontal signal lines) GL and a plurality ofparallel data lines (video signal lines or vertical signal lines) DLintersecting a plurality of gate lines are provided on the surface ofthe TFT substrate. A pixel electrode region is defined by the twoadjacent gate lines GL and the two adjacent data lines DL, and a pixelelectrode ITO1 is formed over substantially the entire surface of thisregion. A thin film transistor (a region shown by a broken line inFIG. 1) serving as a switching element is formed in a protruding portion(upward protruding portion in FIG. 1) of the gate line correspondinglyto each pixel electrode, and it has a source electrode SD1 connected tothe pixel electrode. A scanning voltage applied to the gate line GL issupplied to a gate electrode of the TFT, constituting a portion of thegate line, to turn on the TFT. At this time, a video signal supplied tothe data line DL is written into the pixel electrode ITO1 through thesource electrode SD1.

(Thin Film Transistor TFT)

Referring to FIG. 3, the gate line GL is formed of a conductive film onthe transparent glass substrate SUB1, and an insulating film andsemiconductor layers are formed thereon to form a thin film transistorTFT (described in detail later). When a gate voltage is applied to thegate line GL, a channel resistance between a source and a drain (dataline DL) in the TFT becomes small. On the other hand, when the gatevoltage is reduced to zero, the channel resistance becomes large. A gateinsulator GI made of silicon nitride is provided on the gate electrodeconstituting a portion of the gate line GL, and an i-type (intrinsictype) semiconductor layer AS made of amorphous silicon doped with nointentional impurity and an n-type semiconductor layer d0 made ofamorphous silicon doped with an impurity are formed on the gateinsulator GI. The i-type semiconductor layer AS functions as an activelayer of the thin film transistor. The source electrode SD1 and a drainelectrode are formed thereon, thus forming a thin film transistor. It isto be noted that a portion of the data line constitutes the drainelectrode in this embodiment and the drain electrode is hereinafterreferred to as the data line DL unless otherwise specified.

The gate insulator GI is formed of silicon nitride to a thickness offrom 2000 to 5000 Å (about 3500 Å in this embodiment) by, for example,plasma CVD.

The i-type semiconductor layer AS is formed in thickness of from 500 to2500 Å (2000 Å in this embodiment). The thin n-type semiconductor layerd0 is formed of amorphous silicon doped with phosphor (P) in thinthickness of 500 Å or less so as to form an ohmic contact with thei-type semiconductor layer AS.

Additionally, the naming of each of source and drain electrodes isessentially determined in accordance with a polarity of a voltageapplied between the source and drain electrodes. The source and drainelectrodes in the liquid crystal display device of the present inventionalternate with each other because the polarities are reversed duringoperation; however, in the following description, one is fixedly calleda source electrode and the other is fixedly called the drain electrodefor convenience.

(Source Electrode)

As shown in FIG. 3, the source electrode SD1 is formed of chromium (Cr)on the n-type semiconductor layer d0 in thickness of from 600 to 2000Å(about 1800Å in this embodiment). The source electrode SD1, however, maybe formed of one kind selected from a group consisting of variousrefractory metals (Ti, Ta, W, Mo) other than Cr and alloys thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, the source electrode SD1 is formed on the i-typesemiconductor layer AS and the n-type semiconductor layer do formedwithin one pixel region in such a manner that the end portion of thei-type semiconductor layer As extends beyond the end portion of thesource electrode SD1 at least in the channel length direction. The pixelelectrode ITO1 is formed of a conductive film on a protective insulatingfilm PSV1 and is connected to the source electrode SD1 through anopening portion (hereinafter, referred to as a contact hole) CN formedin the protective insulating film PSV1.

With this structure, the transparent conductive film ITO1 can be formedin such a manner as to easily traverse a step formed by the underlyingsource electrode SD1 without open line defects at the step (described indetail later). Such an effect is conspicuous in the case where the pixelelectrode ITO1 is made of ITO (indium-tin-oxide) as in this embodiment.The etching rate of ITO is larger in grain boundaries than in crystalgrains because ITO has a large crystal grain size. Accordingly, thepixel electrode ITO1 tends to be easily broken at a step of theunderlying layer unless the cross-section of the underlying layer issmoothed.

In this regard, the etching of a semiconductor film using as a mask ametal film on the semiconductor film as described in the Japanese PatentLaid-open No. Sho 61-161764 is disadvantageous in that the metal filmoverhangs in cross-section because it is smaller in etching rate thanthe semiconductor film, with a result that a transparent conductive filmtends to be easily broken at such an overhang. In this embodiment, sincesuch a step is smoothed as described above, open line defectprobabilities for the pixel electrode ITO1 is greatly reduced.

(Pixel Electrode)

The pixel electrode is formed of the transparent conductive film ITO1made of ITO. This is connected to the source electrode SD1 of the thinfilm transistor. The transparent conductive film ITO1 is formed ofsputtered ITO in thickness of from 300 to 3000 Å (about 1400 Å in thisembodiment).

(Gate Line)

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, the gate line GL is formed of a single layerconductive film. The conductive film is formed of chromium (Cr) bysputtering in thickness of from 600 to 2000 Å (about 1800Å in thisembodiment). The gate line GL may be made from one kind selected from agroup consisting of other refractory metals and alloys thereof, like thesource electrode SD1.

(Data Line DL)

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, the data line DL, which is the same conductivefilm as that of the source electrode SD1, is formed on the gateinsulator GI and the semiconductor layers As, do sequentially formed onthe transparent glass substrate SUB1. The data line DL and thesemiconductor layers As, dO form a stacked structure in cross-section.The reason why each layer in the stacked structure has approximately thesame pattern is due to processing of the i-type semiconductor layer ASusing the data line DL as a mask (described later in the paragraph ofthe manufacturing method). In the stacked structure, the layer mainlycontributing to electric conduction and signal transmission is theconductive layer DL.

(Storage Capacity Cadd, Parasitic Capacity Cgs)

A storage capacity Cadd is a capacity formed in a region where a pixelelectrode ITO1 of a TFT is overlapped on the gate line GL preceding byone scanning line the gate line GL connected to the TFT with a laminatedfilm of the gate insulator GI and the protective insulating film PSV1interposed therebetween. The storage capacity Cadd functions to reducethe discharge of charges in the capacity of the liquid crystal LC and adecay in its voltage when the TFT is in the OFF state.

A parasitic capacity Cgs is a capacity in a region where a pixelelectrode of a TFT is overlapped on the gate line GL connected to theTFT with a laminated film of the gate insulator G1I and the protectiveinsulating film PSVI interposed therebetween. As shown in FIG. 2, thetransparent conductive films ITO1 adjacent to each other over the gateline GL are spaced from each other.

Unlike the prior art structure in which the transparent conductive filmITO1 is not overlapped on the gate line GL connected to the TFT, theinventive structure provided with the parasitic capacity Cgs eliminatesthe necessity of covering a gap between the gate line GL and the pixelelectrode ITO1 with a black matrix BM otherwise formed on the countersubstrate OPSUB, and thereby increasing the aperture ratio of the pixelelectrode.

(Light-Blocking Film SKD)

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, a light-blocking film SKD, which is the sameconductive film as that of the gate line GL, is formed on thetransparent glass substrate SUB1 of the TFT substrate TFTSUB.

The light-blocking film SKD is overlapped on the pixel electrode ITO1along the data line DL and further extends under the data line DL, asshown by its layer pattern in FIG. 1. On the other hand, thelight-blocking film SKD is insulated from the data line DL by the gateinsulator GI and the semiconductor layers AS, d0 as shown by thesectional view in FIG. 2, to thereby prevent short-circuit between thelight-blocking film SKD and the data line DL. The light-blocking filmSKD is also insulated from the pixel electrode ITO1 by the gateinsulator GI and the protective insulating film PSV1.

The semiconductor layers AS, d0 interposed, in addition to the gateinsulator GI between the light-blocking film SKD and the data line DLare shielded from light illumination and function as insulators,increase a distance between the light-blocking film SKD and the dataline DL, and an electrostatic coupling between the light-blocking filmSKD and the data line DL is reduced, so that an electrostatic couplingbetween the data line DL and the pixel electrode ITO1 by way of thelight-blocking film SKD is decreased, resulting in reduced cross talk.

Like the above-described parasitic capacity, the light-blocking film SKDhas a function to increase an area of a light-transmitting portion, thatis, the aperture ratio of a pixel electrode and increase brightness ofdisplay as described in detail later. In the display panel shown in FIG.1, assuming that the back light source (not shown) is set outside theTFT substrate TFTSUB and an image is observed from the counter substrateOPSUB side, an illuminating light passes through the glass substrateSUB1 and enters the liquid crystal layer LC through a portion on whichan interconnection line of sputtered Cr is not formed on one surface ofthe glass substrate SUB1. The transmission of the light is controlled bya voltage applied between a transparent common electrode ITO2 formed onthe counter substrate OPSUB and the pixel electrode ITO1 formed on theTFT substrate TFTSUB.

In the case where the display panel is configured to operate in thenormally white mode and is not provided with the light-blocking film SKDand the parasitic capacity Cgs, unlike this embodiment, a wide blackmatrix is necessary on the counter substrate OPSUB. If the black matrixis not formed in the above case, the area between the pixel electrodeITO1 and the data line DL or the gate line GL transmits the leakagelight not controllable by the voltage applied, thus reducing thecontrast ratio of the display. Moreover, the counter substrate OPSUB andthe TFT substrate TFTSUB are secured together with the liquid crystaltherebetween, the large tolerance is necessary in registration of thetwo substrates and this reduces the aperture ratio as compared with thisembodiment in which light-blocking is performed only on the TFTsubstrate TFTSUB.

In the structure of this embodiment, since the light-blocking film SKDand the gate line GL act to reflect light from a back light source,return it to a light guide disposed in back of the back light source,and the light guide reflects and directs the light again toward theaperture of the pixel, the display becomes brighter than the brightnessdetermined by the aperture ratio. In particular, for the structure inwhich the semiconductor layers AS and d0 are formed under the data lineDL, since the semiconductor layers exhibit a light absorbing function,without the light blocking film SKD in back of the semiconductor layersunder the data line DL, reflection of light decrease, resulting in darkdisplay.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor layers under the data line DL areprocessed using the data line DL as a mask, and the conductive filmconstituting the data line DL does not traverse a step of thesemiconductor layer AS, thus reducing open line defect probabilities.Accordingly, the combination of the light-blocking film SKD and the dataline DL exhibits a new effect in addition to a bright display.

Additionally, the Cr film formed by sputtering is used as the gate lineGL and the light-blocking film SKD in this embodiment; however, amulti-layered light-blocking structure with reduced reflection may beused, for which chromium oxide is initially formed on the substrate andthen the Cr film is formed by consecutive sputtering.

(Protective Film)

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, the surface of the TFT substrate TFTSUB on theside where the thin film transistor TFT is formed is covered with theprotective film PSV1 excluding a contact hole CN for connecting thesource electrode SD1 to the pixel electrode ITO1 and a gate terminalportion and a drain terminal portion provided on a peripheral portion ofthe TFT substrate (describe later)

(Gate Terminal GTM)

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a portion ranging from the vicinity of theend of the gate line GL to a gate terminal GTM to be connected to anexternal drive circuit on the TFT substrate TFTSUB; and FIG. 5 is asectional view taken on line V—V of FIG. 4.

The gate terminal GTM formed of the transparent conductive film ITO isexposed to the outside. The conductive film of the gate terminal GTM isformed simultaneously with the transparent conductive film ITO1 of thepixel electrode. The gate terminal GTM has a pattern wider than that ofthe gate line GL for preventing the gate line GL made of chromium frombeing corroded by permeation of chemicals, water and the like in thisstructure, only the transparent conductive film ITO1 is exposed to theoutside, in addition to the protective film PSV1. ITO(indium-tin-oxide), which is an oxide, has a large resistance againstcorrosion and oxidation, and accordingly, this structure has a highreliability.

The use of the gate terminal GTM made of ITO in the liquid crystaldisplay device using TFTs thus makes it possible to ensure a highmanufacturing yield and a high reliability.

(Drain Terminal DTM)

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a portion ranging from the vicinity of theend of the data line DL to a drain terminal DTM to be connected to anexternal drive circuit on the TFT substrate; and FIG. 7 is a sectionalview taken on line VII—VII of FIG. 6.

The drain terminal DTM is formed of the transparent conductive film ITO,like the gate terminal GTM. The drain terminal DTM has a pattern widerthan that of the data line DL. In addition, the protective film PSV1 isremoved from the drain terminal DTM for connection with an externaldrive circuit.

As shown by the sectional structure of FIG. 7, like the source electrodeSD1 shown in FIG. 3, the i-type semiconducting later AS extends longerthan the data line DL at the end portion of the data line DL. This iseffective to reduce the open line defect probabilities of the drainterminal DTM at the end portion of the data line DL.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a schematic structure of a peripheralportion of the display panel PNL. In the peripheral portion of the TFTsubstrate TFTSUB (SUB1), a plurality of the gate terminals GTM arearranged correspondingly to a plurality of the gate lines GL to form agate terminal group Tg while a plurality of the drain terminals DTM arearranged correspondingly to a plurality of the data lines DL, to form adrain terminal group Td. In addition, character INJ in FIG. 8 designatesa portion where a seal pattern SL for securing the TFT substrate TFTSUBand the counter substrate OPSUB together is not provided. After bothsubstrates are secured together, liquid crystal is injected through theportion INJ.

(Counter Substrate OPSUB)

As shown in FIG. 2, color filters FIL for red, green and blue, aprotective film PSV2, the transparent common electrode IT02 and anorienting film ORI2 are sequentially formed on one surface of thetransparent glass substrate SUB2. A polarizer POL2 is attached on theother surface of the transparent glass substrate SUB2, and a polarizerPOL1 is attached on the surface of the TFT substrate TFTSUB on the sidewhere the TFTS are not formed, for polarizing and analyzing a light,respectively.

Although a light-blocking black matrix BM is not formed on the glasssubstrate SUB2 shown in FIG. 2, in actual practice there is a blackmatrix formed of a sputtered Cr film, a stacked layer of Cr oxide andCr, or a resin film disposed at a position corresponding to the TFTportion in FIG. 1.

(Method of Making TFT Substrate TFTSUB)

Hereinafter, a method of making the above-described TFT substrate TFTSUBof the liquid crystal display device will be described with reference toFIGS. 9 to 15. FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the flow of steps (A) to(F) for making the TFT substrate TFTSUB; and FIGS. 10 to 15 showsectional structures of the liquid crystal display device in the steps(A) to (F), respectively. Each figure excluding FIG. 11 shows thesectional structure directly after a thin film is etched in each stepexcluding the step (B), and a photoresist used as a mask is left on thethin film in each cross-section for convenience of explanation. Eachfigure is a sectional view of a portion in the vicinity of a connectionportion of the thin film transistor and a pixel electrode on the TFTsubstrate TFTSUB (see the sectional view of FIG. 3). The sectionalstructure of the liquid crystal display device processed in the finalstep shown in FIG. 9 corresponds to that shown in FIG. 3. Each of thesteps (A), (C), (D), (E) and (F) includes a photolithograph processing.The photolithographic processing in the present invention includes aseries of processes of coating photoresist, selective exposure using amask and development. As can be seen from FIG. 9, the photolithographicprocessing is repeated five times until the TFT substrate is finished.

The steps will be sequentially described.

STEP A (FIG. 10)

A transparent glass substrate SUB1 is prepared, and a Cr film is formedon one surface of the transparent glass substrate SUB1 by sputtering. Amask of a photoresist PRES is formed in a specified pattern on the Crfilm by a first photolithography processing, and the Cr film isselectively etched using the mask, to obtain a conductive film havingthe specified pattern. This conductive film forms a gate line GL or alight-blocking film SKD.

STEP B (FIG. 11)

A silicon nitride film GI, an i-type amorphous Si film AS and an n-typeamorphous Si film d0 are sequentially formed on the Cr film provided onthe transparent glass substrate SUB1 by plasma CVD, and then a Cr filmas a first conductive film d1 is formed thereon by sputtering. Thesemiconductor films AS, d0 are consecutively formed without aphotoresist step, to reduce surface oxidation of the semiconductorlayers due to the resist. This is effective to lower a contactresistance between the n-type semiconductor layer d0 and the conductivefilm d1 and hence to increase electron mobility in the thin filmtransistor.

STEP C (FIG. 12)

A mask of the photoresist PRES is formed in a specified pattern on theCr film (d1) by a second photolithography processing, and the Cr film isselectively etched, to form the specified pattern. Subsequently, then-type semiconductor layer d0 in the opening is removed by dry etchingusing the photoresist PRES.

At this time, by wet etching of the Cr film, the end portion of the Crfilm generally retracts by a value from of 0.5 to 1 μm from the endportion of the photoresist PRES. Also, due to anisotropic dry etching ofthe n-type semiconductor layer d0 and its very small thickness of 500 Åor less as described above, the end portion of the n-type semiconductorlayer d0 retracts only by about 0.3 μm from the end portion of thephotoresist PRES. As a result, the layer underlying the source electrodeSD1 is not etched, and thereby the SD1 does not overhang.

STEP D (FIG. 13)

A mask of another photoresist PRES is then formed in a specified patternby a third photolithography processing, and the i-type semiconductorlayer AS is selectively removed by etching on the gate insulator GI.

The above photoresist PRES is patterned in such a manner as to be widerthan that of the source electrode SD1 at its end portion for the etchedi-type semiconductor layer AS to provide a stair case shape at a circledportion A in FIG. 13. This is effective to prevent open line defects ofthe transparent conductive film subsequently formed above the sourceelectrode at its end portion. On the other hand, the photoresist PRES isnot formed on most of the data line shown in FIG. 2, and thesemiconductor layers underlying the data line are etched using as a maskthe conductive film d1 of the data line DL. Thus, since the i-typesemiconductor layer AS does not protrude from under the data line nearthe data line having no photoresist PRES thereon. This enableshigh-precision processing, and is effective to improve the apertureratio, and to reduce a gate capacity to shorten a delay time caused bythe gate line.

The experiments by the present inventor showed that in the case wherethe pattern of the photoresist PRES for etching the i-type semiconductorlayer AS is not set to be wider than that of the source electrode SD1and the i-type semiconductor layer AS is etched using as a mask theconductive film d1 of the source electrode, the underlying semiconductorlayer retracts from the end portion of the source electrode SD1 andproduces overhangs because the thickness of the i-type semiconductinglayer AS is larger than the n-type semiconductor layer d0, with a resultthat the pixel electrode ITO subsequently formed above the sourceelectrode increases its open line defect probabilities greatly at a stepcaused by the overhang.

STEP E (FIG. 14)

The protective insulating film PSV1 made of silicon nitride is formed byplasma CVD. A mask of another photoresist PRES is formed by a fourthphotolithography processing, and the protective insulating film PSV1 isremoved by etching at the contact hole CN and connection terminalportions.

STEP F (FIG. 15)

A second conductive film d2 made of ITO is formed by sputtering. A maskof another photoresist PRES is formed in a specified pattern on thesecond conductive film d2, and the second conductive film d2 isselectively etched to form a pattern of the pixel electrode ITO1 and thelike.

According to the present invention, as described above, thesemiconductor layers AS, d0, in addition to the gate insulator GI,interposed between the light-blocking film SKD and the data line DL areshielded from light illumination and function as insulators, and furtherincreases a distance between the light-blocking film SKD and the dataline DL, and an electrostatic coupling between the light-blocking filmSKD and the data line DL is reduced, so that an electrostatic couplingbetween the data line DL and the pixel electrode ITO1 by way of thelight-blocking film SKD is decreased, resulting in the reduced crosstalk.

The present invention thus can provide a liquid crystal display devicecapable of a display of higher brightness due to higher aperture ratio,of high contrast and low cross talk.

Also, the present invention can provide an inexpensive liquid crystaldisplay device in which a TFT substrate constituting a display panel canbe made in a simple process including five photolithography processsteps, and a method of making the same.

Additionally, the present invention can provide a liquid crystal displaydevice capable of higher manufacturing yield by preventing open linedefects of a conductive film made of ITO at a step caused by theunderlying layer.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display device comprising: a substrate; a gateline formed over the substrate; a first insulating film formed over thesubstrate and the gate line; a semiconductor film formed over the firstinsulating film; a drain electrode formed over the semiconductor film; asource electrode formed over the semiconductor film; a data lineconnected to the drain electrode and formed over the first insulatingfilm; a second insulating film formed over the source electrode and thedata line; a pixel electrode electrically connected to the sourceelectrode and formed over the second insulating film; and a transparentconductive film connected to the data line through a contact hole formedin the second insulating film, the transparent conductive film beingadapted to be electrically connected to an external drive circuit,wherein the transparent conductive film has a portion, which has a lowersurface nearer to a surface of the substrate than a lower surface of thetransparent conductive film in the contact hole.
 2. A display deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor film is formed betweenthe data line and the substrate at a portion of the contact hole.
 3. Adisplay device comprising: a substrate; a gate line formed over thesubstrate; a first insulating film formed over the substrate and thegate line, a semiconductor film formed over the first insulating film; adrain electrode and a source electrode formed over the semiconductorfilm; a data line formed to intersect the gate line over the firstinsulating film and connected to the drain electrode; a secondinsulating film formed over the source electrode and the data line; apixel electrode formed over the second insulating film and connected tothe source electrode; and a transparent conductive film connected to thedata line through a contact hole formed in the second insulating film,the transparent conductive film being adapted to be electricallyconnected to an external drive circuit, wherein the transparentconductive film has a first edge disposed between the gate line and thecontact hole, and a first portion disposed at a greater distance fromthe contact hole than a distance from the contact hole to the firstedge, between the contact hole and an adjacent edge of the substrate. 4.A display device according to claim 3, wherein the transparent film hasa portion, which has a lower surface at a shorter distance from an uppersurface of the substrate than a distance from a lower surface of thetransparent conductive film in the bottom of the contact hole to theupper surface of the substrate.
 5. A display device comprising: asubstrate; a gate line formed over the substrate; a first insulatingfilm formed over the substrate and the gate line; a semiconductor filmformed over the first insulating film; a drain electrode and a sourceelectrode formed over the semiconductor film; a data line formed tointersect the gate line over the first insulating film and connected tothe drain electrode; a second insulating film formed over the sourceelectrode and the data line; a pixel electrode formed over the secondinsulating film and connected to the source electrode; and a transparentconductive film connected to the data line through a contact hole formedin the second insulating film, the transparent conductive film beingadapted to be electrically connected to an external drive circuit,wherein the transparent film has a portion, which has a lower surface ata shorter distance from an upper surface of the substrate than adistance from a lower surface of the transparent conductive film in thebottom of the contact hole to the upper surface of the substrate.
 6. Adisplay device comprising: a substrate; a gate line; a data lineintersecting the gate line; a TFT electrically connected to the gateline and the data line; an insulating film formed over the substrate andthe data line; and a data terminal comprising a transparent conductivefilm connected to the data line through a contact hole in the insulatingfilm, wherein the data terminal has a first edge disposed between thegate line and the contact hole, and a first portion disposed at agreater distance from the contact hole than a distance from the contacthole to the first edge, between the contact hole and an adjacent edge ofthe substrate.
 7. A display device according to claim 6, wherein thefirst portion has a lower surface at a shorter distance from an uppersurface of the substrate than a distance from a lower surface of abottom of the data terminal in the contact hole to the upper surface ofthe substrate.
 8. A display device according to claim 6, wherein thesemiconductor film is formed between the data line and the substrate ata portion of the contact hole.
 9. A display device comprising: asubstrate; a gate line; a data line intersecting the gate line; a TFTelectrically connected to the gate line and the data line; an insulatingfilm formed over the substrate and the data line; and a data terminalcomprising a transparent conductive film connected to the data linethrough a contact hole in the insulating film, wherein the data terminalhas a portion having a lower surface at a shorter distance from an uppersurface of the substrate than a distance from a lower surface of abottom of the data terminal in the contact hole to the upper surface ofthe substrate.
 10. A display device comprising: a substrate; a gate lineformed over the substrate; a first insulating film formed over thesubstrate and the gate line; a semiconductor film formed over the firstinsulating film; a drain electrode formed over the semiconductor film; asource electrode formed over the semiconductor film; a data lineconnected to the drain electrode and formed over the first insulatingfilm; a second insulating film formed over the source electrode and thedata line; a pixel electrode electrically connected to the sourceelectrode and formed over the second insulating film; and a transparentconductive film formed over the second insulating film and a contacthole formed in the second insulating film, the transparent conductivefilm being adapted to be electrically connected to an external drivecircuit, wherein the transparent conductive film has a portion, whichhas a lower surface nearer to a surface of the substrate than a lowersurface of the transparent conductive film in the contact hole.
 11. Adisplay device according to claim 10, wherein the semiconductor film isformed between the transparent conductive film and the substrate at aportion of the contact hole.
 12. A display device comprising: asubstrate; a gate line formed over the substrate; a first insulatingfilm formed over the substrate and the gate line; a semiconductor filmformed over the first insulating film; a drain electrode and a sourceelectrode formed over the semiconductor film, a data line formed tointersect the gate line over the first insulating film and connected tothe drain electrode; a second insulating film formed over the sourceelectrode and the gate line; a pixel electrode formed over the secondinsulating film and connected to the source electrode; and a transparentconductive film formed over the second insulating film and a contacthole formed in the second insulating film, the transparent conductivefilm being adapted to be electrically connected to an external drivecircuit, wherein the transparent conductive film has a first edgedisposed between the TFT and the contact hole, and a first portiondisposed at a greater distance from the contact hole than a distancefrom the contact hole to the first edge, between the contact hole and anadjacent edge of the substrate.
 13. A display device according to claim12, wherein the transparent film has a portion, which has a lowersurface at a shorter distance from an upper surface of the substratethan a distance from a lower surface of the transparent conductive filmin the bottom of the contact hole to the upper surface of the substrate.14. A display device comprising: a substrate; a gate line; a data lineintersecting the gate line; a thin film transistor (TFT) electricallyconnected to the gate line and the data line; an insulating film formedover the substrate and the data line; and a terminal comprising atransparent conductive film formed on the insulating film and a contacthole formed in the insulating film, wherein the terminal has a firstedge disposed between the TFT and the contact hole, and a first portiondisposed at a greater distance from the contact hole than a distancefrom the contact hole to the first edge, between the contact hole and anadjacent edge of the substrate.
 15. A display device according to claim14, wherein the first portion has a lower surface at a shorter distancefrom an upper surface of the substrate than a distance from a lowersurface of a bottom of the transparent conductive film of the terminalin the contact hole to the upper surface of the substrate.
 16. A displaydevice according to claim 14, wherein a semiconductor film is formedbetween the transparent conductive film and the substrate at a portionof the contact hole.
 17. A display device comprising: a substrate; agate line; a data line intersecting the gate line; a thin filmtransistor (TFT) electrically connected to the gate line and the dataline; an insulating film formed over the substrate and the data line;and a terminal comprising a transparent conductive film formed on theinsulating film and a contact hole formed in the insulating film,wherein the terminal has a first portion having a lower surface at ashorter distance from an upper surface of the substrate than a distancefrom a lower surface of a bottom of the transparent conductive film ofthe terminal in the contact hole to the upper surface of the substrate.18. A display device according to claim 17, wherein a semiconductor filmis formed between the transparent conductive film and the substrate at aportion of the contact hole.